Injured BJP candidate won’t retire hurt

Possessed by poll fever, a fractured leg isn’t hurdle enough to dampen the spirits of Maya Kodnani, the BJP candidate for Naroda. So sh...

Possessed by poll fever, a fractured leg isn’t hurdle enough to dampen the spirits of Maya Kodnani, the BJP candidate for Naroda. So she goes around campaigning in a wheel chair, and taking short light walks wherever possible.

Kodnani fractured her left leg on Tuesday during a campaign round. ‘‘I was at Nicol when I stepped on a stone and lost balance,’’ she says. Advised complete rest for a minimum three weeks, Kodnani walked into the BJP office at Thakkarnagar on Thursday, after just a day’s rest. ‘‘There is acute shortage of time. With only 14 days left for campaigning, I cannot afford to waste even a minute. This is a big constituency with more than 4 lakh voters and 10 wards. How can I take things lightly?’’ she asks.

Kodnani spent the whole of Thursday at the party office talking to workers. ‘‘I took care of the administrative work, which had to be done from the office itself. I also took a detailed report about the situation in the wards,’’ she said.

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Kodnani is also planning to go ahead with her rounds. ‘‘I will go for rounds in an open jeep, sitting in the wheelchair. But I might not be able to go door-to-door this time,’’ she says.

However, she has also asked party workers to arrange for a two-wheeler with a side car, which can be driven into small lanes.

‘‘My day begins at 9.30 am and ends at midnight. We begin with the ward rounds, then attend party meetings followed by group meetings. And in the end we analyse the day’s work,’’ says Kodnani.

‘‘My team has been very supportive. They can campaign without me and win the seat. My physical presence is just a moral support,’’ she says.